Chapter 10 Defeat
An hourglass filled with mana manifested above the spot the Slime Boss's corpse had been lying before, hovering in the air.
It had yet to be turned around, starting the countdown indicating the respawn of monsters. But, he had no reason to worry right now because Nial knew that it was the sign of a dungeon being permanent.
Permanent dungeons required a specific amount of time to be accessible again after they had been cleared.
However, in order to reset the timer, the Boss beast had to be dead, and no Original was allowed to remain inside the dungeon.
The dungeon's reset timer just gave him an additional boost, making him gather the will to get up again.
Thus, Nial rolled over to his side and placed his hands to push himself up.
Swaying a little, he managed to get back on his feet, and quickly killed the remaining slimes that would devour him, if he were to collapse on the ground.
This took him quite some time, but after every possible threat had been eliminated, Nial began to collect the origin crystals that were scattered over the ground.
He hoped that one of the Slime Boss's drops was an ability crystal, but the chance was extremely low.
As such, he was not further astonished that all of the crystals were ordinary origin crystals.
However, Nial was not disappointed with that.
Instead, he was happy that the number of origin crystals the Slime Boss had dropped were a total of 10, further enriching his wealth.
'I should have more than 30 poorest common origin crystals now!' He made a quick mental calculation with a faint smile on his face.
Because his pouch was filled to the brim, Nial had to carry his broken spear in one hand, while his other hand, or to be precise, his entire arm was carrying around several origin crystals.
There was nothing else for him to do inside the dungeon.
As such, left the dungeon through the portal with a faint smile on his lips that turned even wider because he clearly understood that the slime dungeon was a permanent one.
This was exceptional, and he was even happier to not have sold the dungeon than he was before.
The current situation was simply too perfect, which made him forget the aftermath of his decision to enter the dungeon- his mother's wrath!
However, the moment Nial stepped through the dungeon portal, he recalled his parents.
His hope that they were not home yet, also quickly shattered into smithereens as he heard them the moment he emerged in their backyard.
"NIAL ORIN!!" The loud booming voice rang in his ears and Nial flinched instinctively.
A few origin crystals fell to the ground, and before he could even think about picking them up, he sensed two beings appear in front of him.
A moment later, he felt two hands grasp his shoulders and shake him wildly.
This made his grasp around the broken spear loosen, while the remaining origin crystals fell to the ground with a loud clank.
However, just a moment later, he felt another pair of hands brushing all over his face and clothes as he was scanned through.
"Are you okay? Does something hurt? Tell me immediately!" His mother blurted out in concern, while his father simply continued to check for any possible injuries on his precious son.
Even before he could answer her questions, his mother intervened again.
"Why did you enter a dungeon alone?! You do know that you are still too weak, right? Don't you know how dangerous dungeons are? How could you do this to me??"
Not sure of an answer, Nial simply closed his mouth that he had opened and hung his head a bit low.
His father sighed in relief as he stepped back, only to mumble,
"No external injury...that's good…"
His voice sounded concerned just like his mother's, and it was because of their concern that Nial fumbled before muttering an apology.
"I'm sorry...I just wanted to share your burdens…"
Nial had aimed to calm his mother with these words, but instead of achieving the wanted effect, it seemed to work in the exact opposite way, as he heard the anger in her trembling voice.
"NIAL!! So you wanted to share our burdens by making us even more worried?! If that is the case, you perfectly executed your plan!! Entering an unknown and unverified dungeon after just having awoken your origin, without an ability…while being blind at that…
I cannot believe this!! How foolish and irresponsible!!"
Hearing his mother's quivering voice that was filled with anger and worries, Nial clearly understood that he had made a mistake.
He fell silent again and waited for her to scold him but his father intervened.
Placing his hand on Nial's shoulder reassuringly, he tried to calm his wife.
"Maline, calm down, please. Nial is unscathed, right? And look, he even brought back origin crystals!"
Maline was just about to retort that nothing was fine, only to see the number of origin crystals that were scattered on the ground.
Under normal circumstances, this would impress her, but Maline quickly noticed the broken spearhead.
She peered at it intently before asking in a low, yet eerie voice,
"How...did the spear break?"
Nial felt as if a sudden cold washed over him to hear his mother's pointed question, and goosebumps sprang up all over his body.
Somehow he felt that the current situation was more pressuring than the fight against the Slime Boss, but there was no way to escape!
Not even his tired body paid any heed to his commands, and Nial simply accepted his fate as he revealed the truth.
As he recounted his adventurous escapade right from the start, his mother gasped and her breath hitched in her throat.
His words made her instantly forget about her anger, as shock replaced it, while his father nodded his head.
He was much calmer than his mother right now, yet, Nial noticed that even Miles would have loved to lecture him thoroughly.
Fortunately, this feeling disappeared after Nial finished summarising everything that had happened.
"I thought you didn't conquer the entire dungeon...but to think that it's a permanent one...amazing!" Miles remarked, noticeably overjoyed about the revelation, only to turn quiet the moment he saw his wife's eyes.
They seemed to pierce through his entire being, and tear him apart.
Because of that, he quickly averted his attention as he tried to correct himself.
"I'll report that the dungeon is a permanent one and is accessible to only one Original at a time."
Leaving him behind, Miles turned around to report to the association before mumbling "Good luck…" and vanished inside the house.
However, Nial didn't even hear this because something confused him as he shouted out loud.
"Why restricted?"
Maline heard this, and Nial only heard her taking a deep breath as if she wanted to stop herself from exploding again.
"You idiot! Did you really believe we would stay idle in front of the dungeon, and patiently wait for you to return, if not for a restriction? If the dungeon wouldn't have been restricted to being accessed by one Original at a time, we would have entered it, obviously!!"
Nial only muttered an "Oh" afterward, only to quickly add "Sorry…" barely a moment later.
Sighing deeply, Maline shook her head, not sure what to think about her son.
In the end, she was just glad that he was safe and sound.
Deep inside her, she was also proud that Nial had been able to conquer the slime dungeon on his first try.
But, that was not something she would tell him, not right now, at least!
"What was that about the seed within you again? The first slime you killed dropped an ability crystal, and you bound it to the empty innate ability, which is in fact your seed? Is that correct?"
This was something that had confused her, and Nial was not less confused either.
However, he just nodded his head as he decided to distract himself by picking up the origin crystals that had fallen to the ground.
Seeing what her son was doing, Maline frowned, before she helped him out.
Afterward, they got up from the ground and Nial thrust all the crystals into his mother's arms while saying,
"Take them Mom...it's not much, but it should make up for a portion of the money we need for Sabrina's medicine!"
Tiredness washed over him once again when he recalled that he had just finished a lengthy ordeal and that his body was begging for rest.
The entire tension that had accumulated in his mind and body while fighting the slimes all by himself, disappeared as he sagged in relief.
His shoulders dropped a little, revealing how exhausting conquering the dungeon was to him.
His mother saw all of this and worry gleamed in her eyes.
A moment later, Nial's left leg gave in and he would have fallen if not for his mother who broke his fall and grabbed him by the shoulders.
Helping him straighten up again, she admonished him, not for the first time since he had appeared out of the dungeon.
"Before caring about your sister, you should first take care of yourself. If you want to make her even more worried than she already is, continue with what you're doing!"
Hearing this, Nial flinched, and he immediately bit his lower lip.
"She knows about it?"
But rather than receiving an answer directed at him, he heard his mother mumbling to herself.
"Of course, she knows...it's not like Sabrina is deaf…or lacking behind.."
Nodding his head, Nial fell silent as his fingers reached for the spear, trying to assess the damage.
Maline saw this, and after pondering about something for a moment, she thrust the origin crystals she was holding back into his arms.
"Take the origin crystals and buy a new spear. You cannot use that one anymore!"
Hearing his mother caused Nial to lift his head before his lifeless eyes stared at her.
"You don't want me to believe that you won't enter the slime dungeon ever again, right? Just purchase a proper spear with the money you'll get in exchange for the origin crystals!
Do that while registering at the Originals association too!"
His mother's attitude seemed to have completely changed after scolding him heartily.
It was as if she had accepted something and Nial somehow believed that she was taking him more seriously now.
Conquering a dungeon alone was not a feat everyone could do, let alone someone with a disability.
It was only a slime dungeon, but Nial had just awoken his origin.
As such, he was barely comparable to a slightly stronger ordinary person.
Giving him a quick look-over, Maline sensed that he had given his all just to conquer the dungeon and earn a small fortune.
It was a lot of money that he had earned in a span of a few hours, but at the same time, it was not nearly enough to purchase the medicine for his sister.
Because Nial loved his sister dearly, Maline realized that he would definitely keep entering dungeons, now that he had awoken his origin.
He already possessed an ability that allowed him to perceive his surroundings much better as well.
As such, Maline was forced to accept that Nial was growing up too, that he was not her little kid anymore, and that he would give his best to support them by conquering dungeons, even if she was against it.
Knowing this, she decided to support his decision, even if her heart was against it, and not willing to accept that her little baby should never encounter anything dangerous.
Unfortunately, parents were not able to protect their children in every situation for their entire life.
They had to become independent, learn how to take care of themselves, and protect themselves and those they loved!
Thus, Nial had already learned the first lesson- taking responsibility of his family, even if it would mean that he had to face countless dangers.
However, how could they have known that the dangers looming over their entire family were far more horrifying and threatening than they could have ever imagined?
In comparison, their current life could be considered to be a walk in the park!